Some USAF F-16 pilots participating in Viper Lance ‘06 in Romania have gotten to fly the backseat of Romanian Air Force MiG-21s and returned the favor to their Romanian counterparts. Viper pilot 1st Lt. Coleman McDonald says the MiG-21 Lancer has some avionics similar to the F-16 but has different performance and handling characteristics. Romanian MiG-21 pilot 1st Lt. Lates Catalin believes the USAF F-16 pilots are “very well trained” and calls the F-16 “a superior aircraft.”
Happy Birthday US Air Force: 78 Today
Sept. 18, 2025
Seventy-eight years ago today, on Sept. 18, 1947, Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson swore in Stuart Symington as the first ever Secretary of the Air Force, and the Air Force officially became the first new military service since the Revolutionary War.